


Sunshine for Suzanne

by FleuretteFfoulkes



Category: The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleuretteFfoulkes/pseuds/FleuretteFfoulkes
Summary: After their rescue from Paris, the de Tournays' carriage drives on through the rain, under the watch of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. But clouds don't last forever.
Relationships: Suzanne de Tournay/Andrew Ffoulkes
Kudos: 5
Collections: FandomWeekly (2019-2020) Writing Challenge on Dreamwidth





	Sunshine for Suzanne

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fandom Weekly's challenge #069 - Ray of Sunshine.

Suzanne was afraid; there was no shame in admitting it. Only the day before yesterday, she had been cowering in the Conciergerie with Maman, Papa, and Marcel. Now, she was free of that awful place thanks to the good works of the Scarlet Pimpernel and his loyal followers, whom _le bon Dieu_ had sent from heaven—or from England; to Suzanne at the moment, there seemed little difference between the two—to aid in their deliverance.

But the danger was not yet over. They were still in France, and France these days had gone mad. Suzanne would not feel safe until she and Maman and Marcel had all reached the heavenly shore of England, and poor Papa had too. Suzanne would not have left him behind for the world, but the Scarlet Pimpernel had ordered it, and his men had given every assurance that Papa would be saved in his turn. They seemed trustworthy enough, but still Suzanne worried.

She pulled aside the curtain of their cheap carriage just enough to peek outside without being visible herself. Rain had splashed against the window, obscuring her view with streaks and dribbles on the thin sliver of glass that was all she dared expose. Two riders were visible as she craned her neck, one ahead and one behind. She supposed their two other saviors were on the other side of the carriage, or perhaps they were riding further ahead or behind, to keep an eye out for trouble. 

On the seat across from her, Marcel kept silent vigil with his thoughts. He clenched his fists sometimes, and Suzanne wondered if he would rather have stayed behind with Papa, to attempt to fight their way out in some brave but ultimately futile attempt. The men of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel were so unlike her brother and father. They did not care whether they were seen to be brave, and did not mind hiding in the shadows if that was what was needed. Suzanne supposed that they were braver still for all that.

Next to Suzanne, Maman had not stopped murmuring since they had arrived at the carriage and been told that they need no longer keep silent. Rosary beads clicked between her fingers, and at points Suzanne indeed heard the words of _Le Notre Père_ and _Le Je vous salue Marie_ issuing from her lips—but at other times, her prayers seemed replaced by imprecations on the heads of all those who wished destruction upon Maman, her husband, and her children. Suzanne shivered to see her mother's stormy face. Maman wasn't afraid like Suzanne was; she was angry.

The carriage halted abruptly. Suzanne hoped they had not lost a wheel in all the mud that the morning's rain must have created, but then they would be listing more to the side if it had. There was a rap at the door, and then Monsieur Andrew Ffoulkes opened the door and peeked in. Suzanne smiled to see him. Of all the charming Englishmen she had met in their escape, Monsieur Andrew was the most charming of all.

"The rain has stopped," Monsieur Andrew reported, smiling back at her. "I wondered if Mam'zelle Suzanne might like to ride outside for a while."

Maman clutched her beads. "Surely it would be better to remain hidden." With her words, Suzanne felt the stifling darkness of the carriage close back in around her, and only then realized how much Andrew's arrival had meant to her, like a ray of sunshine lighting up everything he smiled at.

"It's quite safe, Madame," Andrew said, still smiling. "We're far out of Paris, and Mam'zelle Suzanne's attire is nothing to attract attention. We will appear to just be two riders of no account, accompanying a ramshackle carriage; nothing for anyone to note." He held out a hand, and Suzanne didn't wait to ask her mother's permission before taking his hand in hers and allowing him to assist her out of the carriage.

Outside, the air had the fresh happy smell that comes when the earth has been washed clean with rain. Seigneur Tony bowed to Suzanne and held his horse steady while Monsieur Andrew clasped his hands for Suzanne to use as a step as she climbed onto the horse. The horse jumped a bit as she took her seat, and Andrew grabbed her waist for a moment until it settled down. Then Tony climbed up on the box of the carriage, and Andrew climbed upon his own horse, and Suzanne gathered up the reins in one hand. With the other hand, she traced gently over her hipbone where Andrew's fingertips had grazed, his touch firm but gentle, and oh so safe. She prodded her mount to trot for a few strides, until she came alongside Andrew. He sat a horse beautifully, as if he was born to it. And he was still smiling.

"I hope this is better than inside the carriage, Mam'zelle?" he asked.

Suzanne's horse snorted and moved to the side, and Suzanne realized two things: first, that the road was curving, and second, that she had been staring into Andrew's eyes instead of watching where she was going. "Oh. Oh, yes, it certainly is. It's very dark inside the carriage."

"Well, it's still plenty cloudy out here, but the sun ought to come out soon," Andrew said. Even as he spoke, a ray of light burst from the sky for a moment and glinted off of his horse's mane and his own slightly curly hair, before it was swallowed up by another cloud. "There, you see? We're getting there."

But as Suzanne kept watching Andrew's bright smile, she was pretty sure that all the sunlight she could want had already arrived. And she didn't plan on letting anything cloud the distance between herself and that sun, no matter what Maman might say.


End file.
